| One of the most elusive concepts in management | | | | understand what the they and their team are |
| is accountability. In leadership roles, accountability is | | | | trying to achieve; |
| the acknowledgment and assumption of | | | | - Buy in - subordinates must believe in the goal |
| responsibility for actions within the scope of a role | | | | and be a part of the success; |
| or position, encompassing the obligation to report, | | | | - Benchmarks and a Quantifiable Result - |
| and be answerable for resulting consequences. | | | | subordinates need milestones and a result that |
| So what does this really mean? A senior manager | | | | can be measured; |
| cannot delegate responsibility, he can only | | | | - Two-way Feedback - feedback from the |
| delegate authority to a subordinate and then hold | | | | supervisor to the subordinate and from the |
| that subordinate accountable for due | | | | subordinate to the supervisor; |
| performance. One of the biggest mistakes | | | | - Evaluation - once a goal is accomplished, |
| managers can make is to continuously frustrate | | | | celebrate the success. Conversely, do not shy |
| their employees by not holding them accountable. | | | | away from criticism if performance falls short. |
| Believe it or not, it can frustrate your employees | | | | To be successful, the manager must also hold |
| as much as it does you. Accountability is the key | | | | himself accountable to following through with |
| to achieving results and helping identify the | | | | accountability. One of the biggest failures is to |
| opportunities in your organization. Holding | | | | start the process and not follow through with it. |
| employees accountable helps them to know the | | | | This causes the subordinate to lose respect for |
| satisfaction of achieving a goal and performing to | | | | the process and to question a supervisor's |
| a standard. | | | | commitment, which can undermine the entire |
| There are five basic requirements for creating | | | | organization. Once accountability becomes a part |
| accountability. You need to ensure you have: | | | | of your management style, you will see improved |
| - Understood Goals - the subordinate must | | | | results and more satisfied employees. |